


Ennegram 8 - Kageyama Tobio (A Character Study)

by MONANIK



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Character Analysis, Character Study, Kageyama Tobio-centric, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28386228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MONANIK/pseuds/MONANIK
Summary: This is just my interpretation of Tobio as a character, with focus on relationships.I think I have a generally unpopular opinion of Tobio.
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio & Everyone
Comments: 7
Kudos: 64





	Ennegram 8 - Kageyama Tobio (A Character Study)

**Author's Note:**

> Just a study, not so much a story, but the language is very flowery so maybe you'll find some pleasure in it anyways.

I like to think of him as very emotionally distant. It’s common to associate childhood neglect with clingyness and needyness later on in life, but Tobio to me seems like the type who rather adapts to the loneliness, and learns to neither fear it nor crave a way out of it. Loneliness becomes solitude. Solitude becomes comfort. Comfort becomes stability.

So I don’t picture him as clingy, or even remotely needy. He seems like a person who’d be hard to get close to, especially physically, and while he wouldn’t necessarily shrug off a friend, I don’t think he’d be very affectionate as a partner. I feel like he would, contrary to popular opinion, express his appreciation and his love in half-spoken gestures that don’t have much to do with direct affection at all.

I feel like Tobio would flaunt his love for his partner by taking them out on his morning jogs, or cooking food he knows will improve their health. I feel like he’d dote in subtle ways, and be inwardly protective, almost overbearing. Like a parent constantly asking where you are and what’s taking so long. Not in an overprotective or bothersome way, no, just in a very Tobio way. He wouldn’t oppose to you being late, not to your face, but he would, if it got late enough, call enough times in worry to drive you insane.

I feel like Tobio grew up not receiving much affection from others, and therefore grew to neither need nor seek it in his relationships. He didn’t know what a high-five was before Tanaka showed him, which in my book could very well mean the other kids around him weren’t very fond of him (as was shown later in the manga to be true), and since we never hear of his parents my guess is that they were relatively absent in his upbringing. His only source of comfort and affection was, to my knowledge, Kazuyo, and when he passed perhaps Tobio took that as a hint to grow up and out of the need for constant comfort and affection.

I read Tobio to be a very independent character. We rarely hear him complain, and we know he takes meticulous care of his nails. It’s only safe to assume that care extends to the rest of his grooming routine. I think he’s both the guy that regularly shaves and showers twice a day, the type of guy who keeps his nails trimmed and prepped to perfection, but also the guy who uses a five-in-one shampoo and still manages to look good.

This self-care, this general stability and ability to take care of himself surely extends to other areas of his life. Children who grow up alone develop a habit of needing to do everything by themselves, and thus learn to do just that in their adult life. I think Tobio is such a person. And I think that stability and general lack of interest in romance is precisely what might make him seem all the more unapproachable, and completely dense in every aspect.

A potential partner, or admirer, would have a hard time approaching Tobio, much less flustering him. He very rarely seems to fluster in general, and I think romantic gestures and flirting would fly straight over his head most of the time. When not, I don’t think he’d give much indication as to needing that affirmation of love, nor would it be the case for him internally.

I think Tobio would choose a partner meticulously, like he’d choose proteins for his mealpreps or shoes for his morning runs, but I think that logical, straight-forward way of picking a partner would eventually lead to genuine feelings. I don’t think Tobio would half-assedly involve himself with anyone, and if or when he does I think he’d give it careful thought and much care. He’s a careful person, and he’s learned to pick his words and actions carefully. Tobio is hyper-aware of how his actions affect others, even if that might not always have been the case, so I think he’d reject affection and proposals more than he’d accept them, and whomever he chooses to accept I think would find immense pride and satisfaction in not only knowing that it’s 100% genuine, but that _they_ managed to hitch someone like Tobio.

As for logical, I truly believe he is. We’ve been told many times over that Tobio is immensely smart. I mean the word _genius_ has been rubbed in our face so many times it’s easy to forget what his actual name is. And I don’t think that’s solely in relation to volleyball (Although Furudate did att it to the notes in his character sheet I choose to interpret that as half-humorous). Tobio may not be neither academically nor emotionally intelligent, but intelligent he is. He’s grown more than any character in the show, emotionally, and he did so from scratch. He took years of trauma and bad behaviors he learned in childhood and learned not only to hone them but to use them to his advantage. Aside from that, I like to think of him as a very confident, stable individual. I know he’s commonly portrayed as childish and flustered and boyish, but Tobio is and has always been in my book a very stable, confident character. He holds himself with pride, and despite being brushed off in many ways by the people around him he never takes it to heart but rather becomes angry with the person who insulted him first. Tobio protects himself and his honor first, that’s why he lashes out so easily, because he knows deep down that he _is_ good. His insecurities were with the fact that his lashing out hurt the people around him, and that was essentially what led him to understand that he could be both. He didn’t have to be a Goody-Two-Shoes. He could be the king of the court and rule in confidence all the while being cherished and admired and, most of all, respected and trusted by his teammates.

So to go back to what I said about Tobio and affection, I think he’d be pestered by his partner for not being cuddly and affectionate enough, and once Tobio decides that affection is something their relationship needs, only then would he let up a fraction, but even then I think he’d be playful. I think Tobio would shy away from kisses and hugs not because he doesn’t want them, but because he finds amusement in watching his significant other pout indignantly at his dodges. I think Tobio can be playful and teasing when he wants to be, and I think that he’d in any relationship be the guy who’s mostly standoffish and reserved until you break through his walls and see glimpses of his care and humor.

-

_I remember the minute._

_It was like a switch was flipped._

_Was just a kid who grew up strong enough to pick his armor up,_

_and suddenly it fit._

_I’m standing guard, I’m falling apart,_

_and all I want is to trust you._

_Show me how to lay my sword down for long enough to let you through._

_Here I am, pry me open._

_What do you want to know?_

_I’m just a kid who grew up scared enough to hold the door shut,_

_and bury my innocence._

_But here’s a map, here’s a shovel, here’s my Archille’s heel._

_I’m strong enough to let you in._

_I’ll shake the ground with all my might._

_I’m shattered porcelain, glued back together again._

_Invincible, like I’ve never been._

**Author's Note:**

> Do you agree with me?  
> What are some of your Kageyama headcanons?
> 
> Wanna scream at me on Twitter? Find me @MONANIK2


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